文献类型：期刊文献

英文题名：The effects of administrative boundary adjustments on service industry agglomeration: evidence from "county-to-district" policy

作者：Liu, Wuqia[1];Deng, Nanxin[1];Wu, Baijun[1]

机构：[1]East China Univ Sci & Technol, Business Sch, Shanghai, Peoples R China

年份：2025

外文期刊名：APPLIED ECONOMICS LETTERS

收录：;WOS:【SSCI(收录号:WOS:001640459000001)】；

基金：This work was supported by the National Social Science Fund of China [25CJL029].

语种：英文

外文关键词：Agglomeration; county-to-district; producer services; consumer services

摘要：Modern service industries are transitioning from labour-intensive to knowledge-intensive sectors, becoming key drivers of global economic growth. The spatial evolution is closely linked to administrative boundary adjustments. This study examines the 'County-to-District' policy to reveal the mechanisms through which administrative adjustments impact the agglomeration of the service industry. We find that the policy promoted the specialization of producer services while decreasing the diversification of consumer services at the prefecture level. Besides, the policy effects exhibit spatial gradients within the prefecture: newly established urban districts become hubs for technology-intensive services; the original urban districts do not significantly benefit from the policy; the remaining counties experience a significant decline in consumer service diversity. The mechanism analysis indicates that removing administrative barriers between districts and counties and improving infrastructure are the primary channels through which the policy takes effect. Overall, the policy has accelerated the knowledge-intensive agglomeration of the service sector by reshaping urban spatial structures and institutional environments. Its revealed regional heterogeneity and spatial externalities offer a new perspective for understanding the logic of industrial upgrading in China's urbanization.